Thursday, 23 December 2010

I wanted this illustration to look like a mix between a couture fashion editorial and a scene from a creepy fantasy story. With most of my work, I tend to include an abstract background that emphasizes the main subject. With this illustration however, I decided to create a recognizable environment around the main subjects so that it all works together to create a dramatic, narrative piece.

Also, I have some good news to share!

Last week I entered the Company Magazine High Street Edit Fashion Illustration Contest and I was selected as one of 17 finalists!

I didn't win the contest in the end but it's still an amazing achievement for me to be shortlisted and have my fashion illustrations acknowledged by a prominent fashion publication.

Go here see the work of other finalists as well as the winner of the contest.

Monday, 20 December 2010

This is one of the most dynamic fashion editorials I've seen in a long time, I literally gasped when I saw it. The silhouettes, scenery and styling make for incredibly dramatic and inspirational imagery.

Thursday, 16 December 2010

I went to my hairdresser yesterday after putting it off for several weeks as it takes me an astonishing 2 and a half hours to get there. Seems like a long way to travel to get your hair done, but when I find someone who does my hair well, I go the distance.

Anyway, while I was there, I picked up this month's copy of Pride magazine and came across an article on Secret Diary of a Call Girl actress Ashley Madekwe. Accompanying the article was a very stylish photo of Ashley wearing a fabulous leopard print coat and as I read on, it also mentioned that she has a fashion blog. When I got home (after another wonderful 2 and a half hour journey back), I decided to check out Ashley's blog and she is one very chic chica!

In a post entitled "Sharp Edges", there was one photo in particular that stood out to me and shows her posing in a soft grey knit, leather pants, a hot pair of studded leopard print boots and her perfectly coiffed hair pulled to a side and hanging from one shoulder. It just needed to be illustrated. I had no choice really. So the end result is the illustration above.

Monday, 13 December 2010

﻿The first one is the original piece which was mainly a line drawing but it felt just a bit too plain for me so I decided to add some shading to the face and body. I prefer the revised version but what do you think?

Saturday, 11 December 2010

I'm kinda getting the hang of drawing hair to make it look like it has real dimension and volume. ﻿The bigger the hair, the better!

photo courtesy blog.sharpie.com

Also, I recently found out about the Sharpie Liquid Pencil (above) which uses liquid graphite and apparently allows the smooth flow of a pen but can be erased like a pencil. Has anyone heard of or used this before? If you have, what do you think of it?

This illustration originally started out with a very obvious Christmas theme - the gold sequin dress was going to be red and I was going to add Christmassy motifs in the background, like snowflakes or holly.

I changed my mind as I was colouring it in Photoshop and decided to go with something completely different and make it all about decadence instead.

I'm glad I had the idea to change it because it turned out much better than the original idea I had in mind.

Tuesday, 7 December 2010

I went to Italy about a week ago and I picked up this La Repubblica Velvet magazine when I was leaving to come back to the UK. I had never heard of this magazine before and after flipping through it, I am officially a fan. I particularly love the fashion spread above - fantastic model, amazing hair/makeup/styling and beautiful photography. I love how it's so playful, sexy and mysterious at the same time. Bellissima!

Portrait of another beautiful model named Nicole who I met that the same fashion exhibition show earlier this year. I was struck by how dynamic Nicole's pose was in the original photo and I wanted to push it even further, so I gave her this wild, energetic mane of hair.

I have a fascination with hair. Well, a fascination with drawing hair actually. I love the level of detail and energy that can be captured in hair and it has become a main focal point in my recent work.

One night I just started thinking about how hair moves underwater and I wondered if I could capture that movement without placing too much emphasis on the water itself. From that starting point, my imagination just started rolling and the end result was these two fantasy pieces of a Water Nymph swimming underwater with these fictional sea creatures I conjured up called Rose Jellyfish.

These pieces aren't really fashion but she's wearing a dress, so hey ;)

Saturday, 4 December 2010

Style bloggers have always been a great source of inspiration for me. We see so many flawless, aspirational images of models and celebrities but it can be so difficult to get a sense of their true character. These bloggers confidently share photos which display unique sense of style and personalities, and they sometimes even divulge candid details of their every day lives. It's this raw honesty that captures readers and ensures their continued interested in them not only as style inspirations but as people.

These three illustrations above were done in 2009 and are all hand drawn with colours, textures and patterns added in Photoshop.

Hello all!Welcome to Danielle Shepherd Fashion Illustration. Some of you may know me from my other blog, Fatal Attraction 2 Fashion where I post about my fashion inspirations, insights and style suggestions. I have occasionally posted my fashion illustrations on that blog but I decided to create this blog which will be exclusively dedicated to my work and things that inspire me artistically. Please have a look around and leave a comment if you see something you like!